Critically acclaimed Moro has little sisters and now we have one of them - Morito - living at the end of our road. With Brawn at the other end of the road I have hit the foodie jackpot for restaurants moving to this area of London, although at suffolkfoodie we rarely have deep enough pockets to go there more than once. Give me the pie and mash shops for dedication to service (about a hundred years of it) and value (still £3.50 for a home made lunch) But award-winning Moorish cuisine, rooted in Spanish and North African influences is hard to ignore, and the owners of Moro - Sam and Sam Clark - were locals once, they lived in the area too. So we booked our table, starting with three glasses of sherry (not each - there were three of us) advised by a waitress from Jerez, and quickly into a starter of dakos - a salad of tomatoes and soaked rye bread with fresh cheese, olives and anchovies. We then went through the tapas: octopus with fava puree, a succulent turbot steak with sherry vinegar and paprika, salt cod with purple potatoes, rabbit deep fried to a dry crunch with rosemary and moscatel vinegar, labneh with chillies and broad beans, and beetroot sweet herb borani with walnuts. It's all about the fresh quality ingredients and the interesting flavours here. The dessert we shared was filo pastry with gum mastic labneh and rhubarb. All of this and a glass of wine each amounted to £40 a head including service. I think we can afford to go back.
- beetroot, sweet herb borani and walnuts £6
- labneh, chillies and broad beans £7
- chicarrones - crispy pork belly £7.5
- dessert - filo, gum mastic labneh and rhubarb £7
- starter - dakos, fresh cheese, olives and anchovies £6.5
- salt cod, purple potato, quail egg and alioli £12
- the salt and spices on the table when we arrived
- turbot, sherry vinegar and paprika
My kind of festival with an inflatable pub full of gin. Also a curry tent, an East Anglian beer tent, plus a baps and wraps stall. It starts on Friday 17th June at 5pm and from noon on Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th June. There'll be other entertainment including an inflatable obstacle course, bungee racing, crazy golf, lawn games and a kids bouncy castle. There is live music too.Entry is £5 per person (under 3's go free) & includes all activities & unlimited squash for the kids.
Last time I ate at The Tickell Arms in Whittlesford there was a sign on the door saying 'no long haired lefties'. That was in 1981. Nowadays the pub is part of the CambsCuisine Group and is much more accommodating. Dogs are welcome (in the pub) and long haired lefties are allowed in too. I ate duck breast with pearl barley, roasted red onions, parsnip puree and port sauce. Very good it was too!
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This week we had a sneak preview inside Bury's newest restaurant The Giggling Squid. Prosecco was flowing at the opening party and canapes included this delicious salt and pepper squid. We loved the decor. Lots of orchids on a back drop of hand picked drift wood with atmospheric lighting. Upcycled mirrors and a huge bookcase of over 2000 books from the local Oxfam for those that fancy a browse. We are going back to sample the menu which includes seafood, street food and simple rustic Thai food all made in house. We are not sure if all the food is going to be elaborately garnished but loved watching the fruit and veggie carving at the opening party.
Lady Bakewell-Park (aka Becky Sebright-King) produces baked goods using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. Find her in the Cookhouse at Suffolk Food Hall. Order your own personalised, hand-made biscuits online.
The perfect pre-drink drink. Drink on a hot summers day, after cutting the grass. Mix the French bitters with pilsner or a wheat beer for a perfect apertif. Or nip to Duck Soup in Soho and enjoy with a plate of green beans, anchovy, soft boiled egg and sour dough crumbs.
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Darsham Nurseries. The best and most interesting breakfast I have eaten for a long time. Shakshuka ... baked eggs in spiced tomato and pepper stew with feta cheese and lots of lovely fresh herbs including my favourite dill.
The Cafe never fails to impress and close enough for me to nip in for an early lunch of Cromer Crab Benedict.
If you find yourself in the Cambridge area in the next two weeks check out Eat Cambridge. Lots on! Lots to eat!
What a job! Judging for the 2016 EADT Food and Drink Awards was no mean feat. Such difficult decisions to make to whittle down the entry list of fabulous foodies, all from Suffolk, all championing the vibrant and exciting local food scene. It was an honour to take part and judge both the Customer Service Award and The Best Cafe/Tea Room Award. Pictured above are Hannah Huntley and Beth Cook from the gorgeous and now award winning Applaud Cafe. Fellow judge and sponsor Charlotte Smith-Jarvis on the right, presents the award. Take a look at all the wonderful winners and finalists.
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Fiona makes amazing wedding cakes ...our Spring Dish of the Day
Written by RuthSince starting her home bakery Moo Moo Cakes in July 2014, Fiona has been creating rustic wedding cakes. Packed full of flavour and looking naturally beautiful, all are baked using un-refined sugars, even the icing sugar, giving the buttercream a depth of flavour, richness and golden colour that you don’t get in processed white icing sugar. Big flavours come from amazing ingredients, all essentials being organic. Added to that a mix of local and delicious seasonal produce. Fiona's wedding cakes come in many gorgeous forms, shapes and sizes. Like this four tier organic vanilla wedding cake dressed with seasonal berries and organic edible flowers (above). Or this two tier elegant ‘barrel’ style naked cake(below). The base tier is organic vanilla, buttercream and Tiptree (she's a big fan) strawberry jam. The top tier is a luscious lemon cake, teamed with a lemon juice buttercream and Tiptree lemon curd. Dressed with cream roses and ribbon.
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Fiona offers wedding cake consultations at her home. She says it's a fabulous time to drink tea, eat cake and talk about how she can make your wedding, magical and delicious. How about this gorgeous ‘drip’ cake? Two tiers of triple layered vanilla cake layered with chocolate ganache & wrapped in vanilla buttercream. Dripping in homemade salted caramel and topped with homemade salted caramel popcorn. Drip cakes can also have chocolate (dark or white) drips, topped with crushed nuts, meringues, chocolate shards, flowers. Ooh! now you're talking!
Introducing guest blogger Mrs Madumbi and an exotic vegetable
Written by Pat (MrsMadumbi)My name is Mrs Madumbi. I am a new occasional contributor to Suffolk Foodie. My focus, though by no means not exclusively, will be on food from Africa. Guess what I found in a Tesco in Sheffield? - amaDumbe. You could mistake this rather ugly, occasionally hairy, vegetable for a mutant potato, but it has a delicate taste of its own - like no other. The amaDumbe, more commonly called madumbi in South Africa, is called eddoes in the Caribbean and Tesco, and taro elsewhere. Do remember this plant can be toxic in its raw form. Madumbis are usually peeled before cooking and can be boiled or steamed, whole or cubed. As a child growing up in southern Africa I loved this vegetable. It was always boiled in its skin for 20/25 minutes (depending on size) until the fleshy part gave when pricked with a fork. After cooking, the water was drained and discarded. The skin comes away easily once cooked. The rather grey inside of the madumbi has a nutty, slightly sweet taste (think distant cousin of sweet potato). The texture can appear slimey and unusual but it is not, so please do not be put off. Newcomers quickly acquire a taste for this versatile little tuber. It is delicious served simply 'potato style' with salt and butter. It can be mashed and mixed with caramalised onions or leeks; added to soups and curry dishes; sliced thinly with a mandolin for crisps and oven-baked or fried.
We had a big family celebration party at the weekend and ended up with a fridge full of leftovers, including a load of butter and selection of fresh herbs. So we made herb butter. This is how ... Snap off any thick stalks, wash and dry the herbs in a salad spinner to remove excess water. Break large pieces of room temperature butter into smaller pieces and drop evenly into the blender. Whizz for a few minutes and if needed gently poke the butter down into the herbs with a plastic spoon. You will need to do this if the butter is too cold and hard. The butter should mix evenly with the herbs. Spoon the mixture onto grease proof paper and roll into a sausage shape. Twist the ends of the paper to seal. If you want to store the herb butter in smaller quantities cut into discs once the butter has hardened in the fridge. Repack in grease proof paper and store in a plastic tub in the deep freeze until required. Remember to label the packages.Parsley gives a wonderful green tint to the mixture. The butter can be smeared on meat before barbequeing, or on grilled fish and steak. Mint is slightly less verdant than parsley but the butter is delicious added to omlettes or mixed into peas. Dill butter goes wonderfully well with salmon - and is also a great accompaniment to gently scrambled eggs. Add zest of lemon to your dill butter for extra flavour. If you don't have any pesto add basil butter to pasta dishes. Your favourite herb butter can be used to add flavour to jacket potatoes or spread onto warm bread.